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General ethics
General ethics is moral philosophy as a general system. Aristotelian ethics has been the most enduring, being located at the foundation of Western ethics; Immanuel Kant would later make a profound contribution with his Critique of Pure Reason. History Aristotelianism ]]Aristotle's fundamental question was that of the "supreme good" or "sovereign good". For Aristotle, man's sovereign good was happiness, or eudaemonia, the perfect fulfillment of human nature. To achieve this, one must discover the meaning of life, as well as what the greater good is. First, Aristotle did not tell his audience what they ought to tend towards happiness, viewing the aspiration toward happiness as simply a fact of nature, existing in man necessarily. This determination of what happiness consists in is the proper task of moral philosophy, but people have a spontaneous and pre-philosophical way of their own. Whether this knowledge is acquired in a practical and spontaneous way or in a speculative and philosophical way, as long as we know what ths supreme good consists in, we also know what to tend towards it. Self-evident to us in "intuitive reason", one must do good and avoid evil. The concept of the supreme good was as essential for Aristotle as it was for his predecessors, Socrates and Plato. Aristotle identified the sovereign good with happiness, but the good is not eclipsed by happiness. The good remains the good, having its own meaning, although it might be identified with happiness. In his ethics as in his metaphysics and cosmology, Aristotle attributes a major role to finality, arguing that all things are suspended from the first cause. The first question for moral philosophy is the question of the sovereign good, which was a classic theme in Western philosophy until Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason in 1788. In contrast to Plato, the ethics of eudaemonia steps down from the heights on which it was located in Platonic morality. For Aristotle, the happiness of humans is eudaemonia, a terrestrial happiness. Also in contrast to Socrates, he also believed that the concept of virtue did not immediately lead to happiness. Happiness is composed of wisdom, virtue, and pleasure. Wisdom is most important; it is an activity of compose and fruition, and contemplation is held to be superior to action. In second place comes virtue, with virtue being a full accomplishment of human nature. Pleasure is a bonus, but exists as a necessary result. Pleasure is added to an act as bloom is added to youth; a man cannot live without a certain measure of joy, and pleasure is the natural recompense of a virtuous life. These three sorts of good exist in the soul, while types of good outside of the soul include friendship (no man is happy without friends), material goods (seeing no virtue in poverty), and chance. Since pleasure occupies the third rank, Aristotle's views on happiness are not hedonistic. On the other hand, it is inherently humanistic, as pleasure is still a part of the hierarchy. Aristotle emphasized the importance of values, with virtue holding a central place in his ethics. His theory of values or virtue stated that virtue was a hexis (habit). He makes virtue a mean between an excess and a deficiency. Thomas Aquinas believed that Aristotle discovered the right ideology, but that it still had difficulties and remained imperfect. Happiness was first identified with virtue, but later separated from it. Freedom of the moral universe is indispensable for morality, and it is found upon the natural universe. The moral philosopher has to know that there is a human nature, of what pertains to spirit and to reason and in man, and that spirit and reason are superior to what is irrational in man's passions. Free will and freedom of choice must also be known. The idea of freedom of choice emphasized by Aristotle was a question which caused his teacher Plato serious difficulties; Plato supported freedom, but there was debate about freedom and its relation to virtue. Defects and arguments In most respects, Aristotle got the major points right, bringing the notion of sovereign good down to something accessible to human beings from the rarified heights on which Plato left it. Unfortunately, Aristotle put so many ingredients into what is necessary for the attainment of eudaemonia that it was attainable only by a small number of individuals. It would have been a privilege among a few free citizens to achieve eudaemonia, and those who achieve happiness must also live a virtuous life and a life crowned with pleasure. Also, Aristotle never made explicit and precise the distinction between the sovereign good and happiness. Aristotle's philosophy promoted narcissism, as people loved their good more than the good of others. Aristotle does not see beyond human happiness, a major problem. Business ethics Business ethics is the philosophy that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business environment. Milton Friedman believed that business executives must make as much money for their shareholders as possible while conforming to the laws, and that individuals, not businesses, have responsibilities. Businesses in the United States currently have corporate personhood, and they can sue or be sued, and can own property. Property rights ]]The etymological root of "property" is the Latin proprius, meaning "one's own". Property is associated with personal qualities of propriety and respectability, also related to ownership. Modern discourse on property emerged by the turn of the 17th century, when theological discussions brought it up. The English philosopher John Locke believed that the private ownership of property was a natural right, meaning that it was a God-given right that came before government. Locke justified property rights, saying that God had made the Earth and all inferior creatures in common to all men; land and inferior creatures are subjected to ownership by man. In 1802, Jeremy Bentham stated "Property and law are born together, and die together." One argument for property ownership is that it enhances individual liberty by ensuring that the state can interfere less in the lives of the people. This view was shared by the American founding fathers. Neoliberals hold that private property rights are non-negotiable, natural rights. The "bundle of rights" related to property ownership are: the right to use the good, the right to earn income from the good, the right to transfer the good to others, and the right to enforce property rights. Open-access property is property not yet owned by anyone. It is not managed by anyone, and its access is not controlled; there is no constraint on anyone using it, other than, perhaps, accessing it at a cost. Navigable airspace and ocean fisheries are examples open-access property. Open-access property may exist because ownership has never occurred, because controls are emplaced, or because ownership is not feasible. Public property, also known as state or government property, is property owned by all, although its use is by the government or by the community. A national park or a state-owned enterprise is an example. Common or collective property is property owned by a group of individuals, and it is controlled by the joint owners. While a true commons can break down, common property, unlike open-access property, can be efficiently managed by its owners. Private property is property that is both excludable and rival. It is owned by a private owner or a group of legal owners, and the owners have obligations as well as rights. Private property rights were held as important to fight against feudalism. It was only property owners that were initially granted civic and political rights and the right to vote; because not everybody owned property, everyone was granted the right to work. Today, discrimination against property owners is seen as a serious threat to the enjoyment of human rights by all. Property rights can be regarded as trampling on human rights, including the unequal distribution of wealth and slavery. The entitlement to civic and political rights was tied to property rights during both the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolution; both Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson believed that only property owners should have the right to vote. James Madison believed that extending the right to vote to all could lead to the right to property and justice being overruled by the majority without property. One of Madison's fears while writing the US Constitution was "tyranny of the majority". The right to vote was restricted to landed men, and suffrage would only become universal decades later in 1828. It would take over a century for women to gain the right to vote. It was not until 1945 that French women could vote, and some cantons of Switzerland did not give women the right to vote until the 1980s. Jurisprudence ]]Jurisprudence is the theory of philosophy of law. Since ancient Greece, philosophers have taken up an interest in law, with Plato being the first. Philosophy of law often seeks to distinguish law from morality and other social conventions, and views about the nature of law often depend on the answers to some of the most fundamental philosophical questions. The relative Greek term is nomos, meaning "rule" or "law". Plato envisioned his mentor Socrates either facing the death penalty or being allowed to escape by his captors; however, Socrates refused to escape and go into exile, as this would mean disobeying the law and admitting that he had done something wrong. In Plato's dialogue, he wrote about the laws of Athens, saying that, as he had lived under the benefits of Athenian law for his entire life and never left the city out of protest, he was either obligated to obey the laws or persuade the state to change them. As Socrates failed to change the law, he had to obey the law and accept imprisonment. A generation later, Aristotle gave more systematic expression about the law. He believed that humans are political animals, naturally sorting themselves into communities (the largest of which was the city-state). Cities are characterized by their politeia ("city-ness"), how a city-state organizes itself. Law is a sort of order governing society, and a statute is, by nature, universal in form. Because of its universal nature, a law can sometimes fail to apply. Aristotle was the first to articulate the ideal of the "rule of law", believing that law had a share in eternal divine wisdom, and, as such, it could constrain the exercise of political power (especially that of tyrants). Aristotle is also considered the father of natural law theory. Like Socrates and Plato before him, he believed in natural rights. He argued that the term "justice" actually refers to two ideas: general justice and particular justice. When a person's actions are completely virtuous in all matters in relation to others, Aristotle sees them as just in the sense of "general justice". General justice has more to do with ethics than politics or law, as the idea of justice is co-extensive with that of virtue. Particular justice is part of general justice, insofar as it is concerned with treating others equitably. Aristotle then discusses a qualified view of political justice, saying that it is derived from both nature and convention. Many aspects of ancient Greek culture had continuing influence throughout the Roman Empire from the 1st century onward, but their law was not one of them. Roman jurists developed the first form of legal science, and legal writing was created in the service of this new discipline. The Digest of Justinian would serve as the basis of most modern European legal systems. The Roman jurist and philosopher Cicero articulated the first and definitive conception of natural law. In Cicero's On the Republic, he writes "True law is right reason in agreement with nature. To curtail this law is impious; to amend it is illicit; to repeal it is impossible. Nor will it be one law at Rome and a different one in Athens. But one the same law eternal and unchangeable." He believed that there are moral criteria for determining the validity of all positive law, giving currency to the centuries that followed. Augustine of Hippo claimed that an unjust law was no law at all, and this served as a slogan for the natural law tradition. Natural law theory was given its first systematic treatment by Thomas Aquinas, who extended and modified Aristotle's philosophy in novel ways. He defined law as an "ordinance of reason", produced by lawmakers and responded to by subjects. In the most abstract sense, the law was supposed to serve the greater good of the people. He classically went on to articulate four kinds of law: #Eternal - Divine reason, known only to God. It is God's plan for the universe, and it gives man direction. #Natural - Man's participation in eternal law, discovered by reason. Based on first principles. #Divine - Revealed in the scriptures as God's positive law (law that is posited) for mankind. #Human - Human positive law, made by humans, supported by reason, and enacted for the common good. From the late Renaissance to the early modern era, philosophical debates about the nature of law grew and diversified. Much of modern international law is derived from Francisco Suarez (1548-1617) and others, who argued against the social contract and believed that the will of a legal subject must come into direct contact with the will of the legislature. There was another thematic development besides Suarez's paternalistic theory. Starting in the 1620s in England, the "immemorial custom" movement developed, arguing that laws were parts of common law. The use of a rule for centuries lends the rule authority and legitimacy, and the continuation of a law reinforces the community's recognition. Common law theory was an important departure from the "command model" of law, moving away from the statue as a paradigm and instead explaining the operation of law courts and the relation of a larger community. Judges and lawyers were now responsible for creating a theory of law. As part of their philosophy of law, common law theorists advanced a theory of adjudication, of what judges do and ought to do. Sir Edward Coke famously said, "The judge is the law speaking," by which he meant that the judge is an expert at declaring the law that was present since time immemorial; he is a living oracle of the law as its mouthpiece. For Thomas Hobbes, law was the primary instrument of a sovereign, by which serve ends of government. These ends of government were peace and the personal security of citizens. During the English Civil War, Hobbes developed the idea that government which ruled effectively by law was the only bulwark against "a war of all against all." Hobbes was credited with being the founder of legal positivism, the dominant theory of law since the 17th century. His fundamental criticism of common law theory was that the immemorial customs are not always easily discernable, and can be controversial. Hobbes rejected Coke's idea that coming to know the idea involved artificial reason, instead arguing that, if lawyers and judges were necessary intermediaries between sovereign and subject, the law would fail to guide the conduct to whom it applied. Although Hobbes' theory had undeniable positivist elements, in positing the important connection between natural and civil law, he was also inspired by the natural law position. He wrote that natural law and civil law contain each other, believing that there were moral limits on what the sovereign could demand of his subjects. Jeremy Bentham, another great legal philosopher, comprehensively critiquing common law theory. He also extended and revised Hobbes' conception of sovereignty and the idea of law as a kind of command. Bentham thought that English common law was confused in theory, dangerous in practice, and incapable of being law in the fullest sense. Bentham also excoriated common law theorists for conflating what common law is and what it ought to be. Bentham held, along with Hobbes, that unless the ability to interpret law was available to regular citizens, the law would remain inefectual. He mockingly called the common law "dog law," saying that a dog could be punished after the fact after disobeying the owner's rules, without being given knowledge on how to avoid such liability in the future. Bentham used the concept of sovereignty to explain the unity of a legal system, as well as the criteria of legal validity for that system. A given rule is a law of a given system if, and only if, it bears the right relation to an exercise of sovereign legislative power. The power of the sovereign was explained by reference to the habit of obedience from the community. Bentham wrote of a dynamic intellectual relationship between citizen and sovereign, in which the general habit consisted of regular conformity by many citizens to the sovereigns' command. He was a forerunner to the idea that the law rests on complex social conventions. During the 20th century, realist schools of legal philosophy emerged in both Scandinavia and the United States. Positivists believe that laws may seek to inform justice and morality, and that their success or failure does not determine their validity. Secondly, the law is a set of rules provided to maintain order in society, but it does not mean that the law is to be obeyed no matter what. Legal realism maintains that the actual practices of courts, law officers, and police stations should determine the law. Thus, legal realism has affinities to the sociology of law. American philosopher John Rawls, in his 1971 book A Theory of Justice, used the "original position" device, asking us how we would run society if we were behind a veil of ignorance masking our distinctive features. He argued that we would choose exactly the same political liberties for everyone if these distinctions did not exist, arguing that "justice is fairness." Category:Philosophy